Why did it take so long for Sergio Martinez to reach the spotlight in boxing?

Martinez is not American so that alone makes it hard to get popular. Getting KO'd in his first American bout didn't help. It seemed that that weight drained him in hindsight. Every time he tried to step up he slipped. In reality he was learning as he went along, because he started boxing very late. So to answer your question...

1) Not being American or fighting in America

2) The KO loss to Margarito at 147 made his previous 17 wins look like hype.

3) Starting his career late

He went 17-0-1 against Margarito and got knocked out [margarito was likely on plaster]. Then he went back to fighting in Argentina several times. Then he won the IBO, again another paper title, as well as a latino title. The money or fame isn't there. The big paychecks are here to you need to come here for the big fame. Finally he won a big title, the WBC in 2008 and from here on he got some fame, he got to fight Cintron, Williams, Pavlik & his second fight with Williams made him the best in the division.

You don't become a superstar until you win 1 of the 4 major titles.

1.) Many of those fights were against bums, it's not like he has twenty really good wins out of his 52. Reason is hee fought in Spain for a long time against extreme unknowns.

Until Martinez got to the US and on HBO (I think the Bunema fight was his first on the network), he was fighting no names in like eight round fights.

It's not necessarily his promoters fault, they did their best and did well IMO, but it's hard to break through and get the spotlight/real fights when you have no good wins and aren't a blue-chip prospect (like Gary Russell Jr for instance).

I remember in like 2008 Martinez even fought a four rounder, which is pretty pathetic considering his number of fights and skill.

Plus, by the time Sergio did get on US TV and recognized, he was too dangerous for a lot of guys to fight. The risk-reward wasn't there for a bit, and then eventually he got the big fights b/c people couldn't avoid him without getting criticized.

2. Martinez really became popular and respected (at least in boxing circles) after the first Paul Williams fights, which was 2009 I believe.

It was a great fight, and most thought he at least deserved a draw instead of a majority decision loss. THen Martinez won the lineal title against Pavlik, crushed P-Will in a rematch, and his name became REAL and recognized.

he was fighting out of spain and argentina..the fan base is not so big there..and he found it hard to land big fights once he made it to the usa. margarito didn't knock him out, it was a technical stoppage. margarito is also a cheater, i'm sure he didn't just all of a sudden decide to cheat just for mosley..

Cuz he KO'd an overrated church boy paul williams.